The Power of Negative Thinking

I told myself once when I am properly ensconced in the right job that I would take steps to do more of the things I love.  But I realize nothing was really stopping me (with the exception of my finances), and I just needed to be in the right frame of mind.

Journalist Oliver Burkeman brought this front and center in his book “The Antidote:  Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking” (excerpts of which could also be found in http://time.com).

It also reminded me of the 1995 movie “French Kiss,” in which Meg Ryan’s character managed to overcome her fear of flying with the help of the incorrigible Kevin Kline, to finally confront her scoundrel fiance (Timothy Hutton) and his hottie on a beach in Cannes:

“Well… Charlie, I’m going through some sort of transitional thing. See, after you called, I decided to get on a plane to Paris and get you back.

But there was no way everything I’d been building toward would be destroyed because some pouty little–this is before I knew you personally–bitch, wanted to steal a husband.

I bought the ticket, got on the plane and somehow made it over the ocean. Then an extraordinary thing happened.

Everything went wrong.

So I was wandering the streets of Paris, penniless, without a hope in the world.  And, let me tell you, you can do a lot of soul-searching in a time like that. I realized that I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to protect myself from exactly this situation.

And you can’t do it. There’s no home safe enough, no relationship secure enough.  You’re setting yourself up for an even bigger fall and having an incredibly boring time in the process.  Sorry, Charlie.”

Check the movie out for yourself: